Elective Courses

Smith's MBA electives enable you to build a personalized portfolio of management knowledge and skills. In addition to acquiring expertise in one or more functional areas of business, you'll further develop your ability to analyze, synthesize, and communicate. Elective course content is both timeless—exploring theories that are the foundation for modern business practice—and timely—incorporating the "best practices" emerging from today's technology-powered global markets.

You can choose from a wide range of electives in traditional and cross-functional areas, selecting courses that meet your professional goals. Explore in depth a traditional and an e-business area (e.g., marketing and e-commerce) to build specialized expertise. Or choose two distinct traditional areas (e.g., marketing and finance) to further develop your cross-functional management skills.

Once full-time MBA students complete the core classes required to graduate in College Park, they may choose to take elective courses in College Park, Baltimore, Shady Grove, or Washington, D.C. Part-time MBA students may also take advantage of electives at College Park, Baltimore, Shady Grove, and Washington, D.C. (Students who are not residents of the State of Maryland may be subject to non-resident tuition rates.)

Students may also take a limited number of electives outside the Smith School of Business by selecting courses from:

Business Telecommunications

Telecommunications is now the lifeblood of nearly every organization, and the Greater Washington area has emerged as the nation's capital of this exciting, rapidly growing industry. Smith’s telecom electives deliver the combination of technical skills and management knowledge that MBA graduates have leveraged into employment with established companies and new ventures, including Commerce One, Lockheed Martin, American Management Systems, Accenture, and Proxicom.

Electronic Commerce

The Internet and the Web are transforming business around the world, facilitating new kinds of interactions among companies, suppliers, and customers, as well as within firms. The vast potential of this area has created a need for managers with a broad understanding of the key trends in technology-supported applications who can explore emerging new business models. Graduates have applied their e-commerce studies in a variety of positions including systems analyst, e-business consultant, and customer relationship manager.

Entrepreneurship

Drawing on its internationally recognized research faculty, and successful entrepreneurs, investors and clinical practitioners in the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship the program brings together the best that research and experience have to offer Smith MBAs. The school's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship provides networking opportunities with the area's rich base of technology entrepreneurs and investors through its Baltimore-Washington Venture Group and Private Investors Network. By participating in the university's $50K business plan competition, the business plan review course, or the National Venture Capital Competition, Smith MBAs have ample opportunities to practice what they learn.

e-Service

The two most important long-term trends in the business world are the shifting of the economy from goods to services, and the rapid expansion of the information economy and electronic networks. These two trends converge in the concept of e-service, which is the provision of service over electronic networks such as the Internet.

This opportunity has generated significant interest in both practitioner and academic communities in understanding how the Internet and the network environment can be harnessed in providing "e-service" Thus, we have private sector companies investing in IT infrastructure to build eCRM (electronic-Customer Relationship Management) systems, one-on-one marketing systems, apply data mining tools to understand their customers better and provide focused service; in the public sector, organizations and agencies are rapidly setting up "e-government" systems to provide service to citizens; while in the academic community there is an increased interest in understanding how "e-service" impacts consumer behavior ­ their loyalty behavior, and their expectations about price, quality and service attributes ­ and how this knowledge can be used to design better framework and systems for service provision.

Given the interest in e-service and the simultaneous, albeit fractured, developments in the various sectors, it is understandable that many definitions and perspectives have emerged regarding "e-service" Some private sector companies view "e-service" narrowly as information services, while IT organizations such as Hewlett-Packard have been making "e-service" as their marketing theme in order to move away from product-centered focus to a service-centered focus. In some government agencies, "e-service" is viewed as a means of holding government accountable to its citizens. Other IT companies, such as Microstrategy, for example, view "e-service" as a purely IT driven concept. In the academic community, e-service is seen as an overarching customer-centric concept (Rust and Lemon, 2000).

Put simply, e-service means managing e-commerce from a customer's perspective. Emphasis in e-service is on the customer rather than the technology. The focus is on issues such as customer relationships and customer equity in networked environments, understanding the nature of service quality in such an environment, and how an e-service customer can best be satisfied. While these issues all require a knowledge of technology, the primary interest is in consumer behavior and the maintenance of profitable customer relationships.

Courses in e-Service

e-Service – discusses the basics of e-service, as described above

Service Marketing – provides the customer-focused management framework and tools that are essential to understanding e-service

Finance

Challenging and comprehensive, finance electives provide a broad understanding of corporate finance, financial restructuring, securities analysis, portfolio management, and financial institutions and markets. Smith has become a leader in finance education by assembling a group of talented faculty members who are well-recognized industry experts and prominent in academic circles. A select group of students may also gain practical experience through the Mayer Fund, a year-long advanced finance program in actual money management. Recent Smith MBAs have gone onto careers with Credit Suisse First Boston, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Deutsche Bank, T. Rowe Price, and Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc.

Financial Engineering

Financial engineers combine mathematical skills with an understanding of financial paradigms to create new financial products and manage risk, thereby better serving the strategic needs of business organizations. The multidisciplinary nature of financial engineering is reflected in our cross-functional curriculum that includes courses in finance, information systems, management science, operations research, and statistics.

Information Systems

Information systems and technologies are fueling the transformation of corporations to meet the challenges of the knowledge-based economy. Smith offers a rich selection of courses in this area to prepare students for careers in the management, design, and implementation of information systems. Smith's IS curriculum is ranked among the best in the nation by US News & World Report..

International Business

International business electives provide a broad look at issues global organizations face across the enterprise. Taught by faculty with extensive global research and consulting experiences, students explore international marketing, finance, management, and organizational behavior strategies. Optional study abroad activities, including week-long study trips and semester exchange programs, provide a global business perspective.

Management Consulting

As organizational structures become increasingly dynamic, even virtual, there is growing demand for talented and creative problem solvers who can deliver expert knowledge across industries. Smith’s elective courses in the areas of leadership, organizational change, and strategic management help prepare students to succeed as external and internal consultants.

Change and Organizational Management

Today's competitive, e-powered business environment requires organizations to constantly reinvent themselves, developing new structures, work processes, and decision-making techniques that can provide a clear advantage in the marketplace. These electives equip students with critical knowledge and skills and practical experience in facilitating organizational change.

Management of Human Capital

Effective recruitment, development, and retention of talented employees is critical to the success of every organization. These electives consider traditional personnel functions from a strategic and tactical management perspective in the context of today's diverse, global business environment.

Management of Strategy

Complex business operations and the competitive global marketplace have created opportunities for individuals skilled in strategy and executive management consulting. Smith MBAs have gone to work for McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group, Monitor, Booz-Allen Hamilton, AT Kearney, Cap Gemini E&Y, iXL, Commerce One, and many other leading traditional and Internet solution consulting companies.

Management of Technology

These electives examine how firms link technology with corporate strategy and how the combined strategy is implemented. Taught by faculty who have experience in this area as both scholars and practitioners, students develop skills in such key areas as technology-based strategic planning, technology forecasting, managing innovation, new product development, and technology integration.

Management Science

Management science exploits the power of mathematical modeling and analysis to support complex decision-making at all levels of the business enterprise. With a comprehensive list of offerings in this area, MBA students learn to apply their skills and knowledge in areas such as optimizing the design of supply chains, identifying prime locations of key facilities, and maximizing the performance of telecommunications networks.

Marketing

Smith's elective courses in marketing explore current marketing topics, such as data-driven marketing and permission marketing, along with traditional concepts, such as market segmentation and brand management. Students build a strong portfolio of marketing skills that can be applied in positions with a variety of organizations, including finance, consumer products, and high-tech firms. Elective options include consulting, marketing management, market research and analysis, and product management.

Supply Chain Management

The demand for managers who can create competitive advantage for their organizations by delivering customer value through effective supply chain management has never been greater. Electives in this area emphasize an understanding of the latest tools and systems including real-time, e-supply chain technologies; optimization planning software; and modeling and analysis applications. Students gain hands-on experience with supply chain technologies in the Supply Chain Management Center Laboratory.